"From-Shore" Blackfishing
By BrianZ

So you just plugged the beach until dawn and the last cup of coffee you had at 5am is just starting to kick in. Too early to go home and the beach is dead, what to do? Might I suggest trying your hand at toggin' from shore? In most cases the same basic rod and reel you were just using will work and chances are you're already near some prime spots for catching blackfish from terra firma. Here's what you need and what you should look for.

The first thing you need to consider is where to find these scrappy critters, and since blackfish like to eat mussels, crabs, barnacles and other assorted little, crispy morsels, you are gonna want to look for them in areas that harbor those creatures. My favorite from - shore spots are inlets and ocean jetties that have an average depth no less than 8 feet. Most inlets that I have fished on the east coast have long jetties on either side and this can be prime blackfish structure at certain times of the year. Don't shy away from moving water inside the inlet/river as long as there is adequate depth and structure the blackfish should be there as well, but if the current is too strong during mid tide than you may want to fish just the slack in those areas.

The best "toggin" of the year from shore is in the spring and fall here in NJ. It is typically the months of May and October most years, with slight variations depending on water temperature fluctuation. In the spring many striped bass fisherman catch an occasional blackfish while surf fishing near jetties or hard structure with clam baits, and many more get robbed by the toothy tog before they even know what happened! One of biggest shore caught blackfish I ever caught was hooked as by-catch while dunking a whole clam on a 7/0 hook for stripers in NJ. That tog tipped the scale at just a shade over 7lbs and was released because she had a full belly of roe. In the fall the inlets and rivers start to show fish schooling up and getting ready to make the trek out in to the ocean for the upcoming winter, and if you locate a nice hole the action can be fast and furious.

Typical from-shore tog tackle consists of a medium rod with 15-20lb mono and a medium sized reel capable of "winching" big tog up on a fairly tight drag. I prefer toggin with conventional equipment on a 9' or 10' moderate to slow taper graphite rod. 30 to 50lb braid as my running line with about 6' - 10' of 30-50lb. mono topshot to the rig. Rig descriptions to follow, keep reading ;-) I am comfortable using braided superlines for toggin but I must warn you that there is a slight learning curve involved when switching from mono to braid where blackfish are concerned - mainly in bite detection. The superlines have no stretch and are very sensitive to feeling every little peck and tap and when you first switch over, small bergal hits are going to feel like keeper blackfish until you get used to the sensitivity of the line. Short (early) hook setting is a typical problem when switching over to braided lines for blackfishing in the beginning but you WILL get used to it if you are patient with yourself AND the fish AND learn to wait for the right hit to set up on.

One more thing on rods before I move on to the next subject, I feel it is much more beneficial to use a longer rod in the 9'-10' range because of the leverage it affords you in terms of hooking fish and getting them out of the "sticky" bottom before they can hang you up. I have fished with some very talented fisherman that use an 11' or even a 12' rod for the added leverage a rod that long affords. In many places however a 7' or 8' rod will do just fine as long as it is stout enough to handle muscling whitechins out of the rocks.

Bait is usually a matter of preference or availability and some seasonal patterns for the fish may prevail. I have heard the myth that in the early spring when the blackfish first show up that they won't hit crabs because there mouths are still soft from not having eaten for the winter. Don't believe that!!! Mainly because every spring I catch them from assorted inlets on green crabs and fiddlers and other local self - caught crab baits. Clams and worms are great baits and I have never met a tog that would refuse one or the other but since they are notorious bait stealers as are the ever present bergal (choggy for our northern brethren) using the softer baits can be quite a bit more expensive. I typically get some fiddlers and some green crabs for toggin from shore. When the fish are schooled thick (as typically can be found in many places in the spring or fall) it really won't matter what you are using as long as it is in the water! Green crabs usually get halved or quartered depending on how big they are and fiddlers go one or 2 to a hook. Locally in NJ it is possible to rake calicos or hand catch "tarantula" crabs (Japanese shore crabs) and at times they work very well.

My typical land based tog rig consists of a dropper loop and an over hand loop knot. The loop knot is made at the bottom end of the leader and from there I tie the dropper about 3-6"up from the loop knot. I then take a size #2 to 3/0 bait holder hook (matter of preference on my part but i have used octopus and Virginia style hooks in the past and still do on occasion) depending on the bait I am using and how the tog are biting that particular day. I snell the hook to a 10"-18" piece of 30-40lb fluorocarbon and tie a loop knot to the other end and then loop-to-loop the snelled leader to the dropper loop. The whole rig can either be attached via swivel or if using braided line you can attach by way of one of the splice knots (I use a 20 turn Albright). The rig I just outlined is what I call my "seeker" rig because I use it to find the fish and see how they are biting. I will alter the rig depending on how strong the current is and how far off bottom the fish actually are. Usually the next rig I try is to put the sinker above the hook leader so the bait lies on the bottom instead of tickling the bottom as with the first rig. To tie that rig all I do is make a large dropper knot 10"-18" from the tag end of the leader, I make the dropper loop large enough to accommodate the size sinker I am going to use. Then below the dropper you now have a length of leader to snell your hook on. Sinker weight depends on depth, current and line diameter, and I usually carry an assortment of bank sinkers form 1 oz to 6 oz just to be safe.

A couple other tips I can offer that I have learned form past experience is to bring a long handled net because your typical inlet or rock pile can be pretty high up from the water line and it WILL be painful to your psyche if you lose a lip hooked trophy blackfish because you thought you could "hoist" him up!!! You will also want to get a pair of utility pliers if you plan on using green crabs.

That's about as far as I can take you on paper, the subtleties of a "feel" come with experience and every season I seem to learn more and more about the white chins and how to catch them more effectively. All I can say is give it a try and if you like challenges you will be hooked for life!

** Thanks Brian, that was excellent! It should give some folks a solid head start into the frustratingly delicious world of toggin' from shore! :-)

TimS